Royals Designate Maikel Cleto For Assignment

The Royals have designated right-hander Maikel Cleto for assignment in order to clear a roster spot for Jimmy Paredes, tweets Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star.

The Royals claimed Cleto, 24, off waivers from the Cardinals in June. Cleto improved on the 6.92 ERA he had posted on the year in the Cardinals' farm system to that point, turning in a 3.55 ERA with 8.5 K/9 and 5.0 BB/9 in 38 frames with Triple-A Omaha. The Dominican native possesses a huge fastball, as he has averaged 97.1 mph in 20 career innings at the big league level. Cleto was originally signed by the Mets and traded to the Mariners in the J.J. Putz deal before being dealt to St. Louis in exchange for Brendan Ryan.